Ron Washington, a baseball lifer and San Francisco Giants infield coach, shares his unique approach to coaching and drills with a reporter. He emphasizes the importance of aggressive play and keeping hands moving straight when catching the ball. Washington's drills, which include evaluating bad habits and practicing with 96 grounders in four minutes, have helped infielders like Luis Arraez improve their skills.
San Francisco Giants infield coach Ron Washington runs infield drills with Bay Area News Group San Francisco Giants beat reporter Justice delos Santos before their game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif.
, on Friday, May 8, 2026. to discover a simple truth: If he sees something, he’s going to say something. He doesn’t care whether your feelings get hurt in the process, either.
“I don’t mean this in a mean way, but I don’t give a what you know,” Washington said. “You look like you got some skillset, but you asked me to help you with what I do, so just stay focused on that. Once this is all over, you want to go back to doing what you do, you go ahead. But in my presence, let’s do what we’re working on.
”Washington, colloquially known as “Wash,” is a baseball lifer whose career as a player, coach and manager has spanned five decades. He signed with the Kansas City Royals in 1971 and made his debut in 1977 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where Dusty Baker Following a 20-year playing career, Washington has spent the last three-plus decades in the coaching ranks.
He spent several memorable years with the famous Moneyball A’s of the early 2000s and managed the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels . ,” Washington is most known for his acumen as an infield coach. Wash is a master of the fungo, a savant of the short hop. He’s turned poor defenders into competent fielders, and competent fielders into Gold Glovers.
In Oakland, he helped turn Eric Chavez into a six-time Gold Glove Award winner. In Atlanta, he helped second baseman Ozzie Albies and third baseman Austin Riley make leaps as defenders. In San Francisco, he’s crafting his magnum opus. Before joining the Giants, Luis Arraez had graded out as one of the worst defenders in baseball.
Under Washington’s tutelage, Arraez hasn’t just evolved into a serviceable defender. He’s become one of the best defenders in baseball. I’ve long known that Washington is a great coach, but I’ve always had a lingering question: What exactly does Washington do with his infielders that allows them to make such stark improvements? Because it can’t just be the drills, can it?
To me, there had to be something more. There had to be something about Washington and the way he conducts these drills. Washington agreed to take me through his famous infield drills during spring training, but we didn’t get around to it until May.
I have an OK baseball résumé as far as reporters go, having played for 10 years and earning a Gold Glove during my sophomore year at Hercules High School, but I knew I needed to knock off the rust before working with Wash. To prepare, I’d throw a tennis ball off a wall in my room and practice short picks to prepare my hands.
I also needed to hit my glove, a black Wilson A700, with several layers of glove conditioner. I figured I’d also ask a couple of infielders for advice. Matt Chapman, a five-time Gold Glove Award winner, told me to be aggressive. Casey Schmitt, who can play every infield position, echoed that sentiment.
“Trust your hands and just listen to Wash,” Schmitt said with a smile. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s magic. ”Washington and I agreed to meet at 1 p.m. on May 8, but I had a feeling he’d be early.
When I arrived at 12:15 p.m. with Joseph Dycus, our news organization’s Golden State Warriors reporter turned temporary videographer, Washington was all set up. As we walked out to left field, I asked Washington a question at the recommendation of the San Francisco Standard’s John Shea: “Is there such a thing as soft hands? ” “No,” Washington immediately responded.
“They say ‘soft hands. ’ Has anyone ever given you a definition of what soft hands are? ” To prove his point, I grabbed a kid-sized infield glove and he flipped me two short hops. I lazily scooped both, and after the second grounder, Washington stopped me.
“What’s wrong with what you did,” Washington said before smacking my glove, “is you just kept doing that. ” I assumed we’d go straight into his famous routine, one where he feeds 96 grounders in about four minutes. Instead, we started with a 17-minute detour that allowed Washington to evaluate my bad habits — bad habits I didn’t even know I had. Washington’s main point: When I catch the ball, keep my hands moving straight.
“I don’t know what you call this you’re doing. … Once you get to the ball, you’re finished. You don’t got to do nothing else. … You’re done!
Why you gotta put some other in there? ” Washington said. After fielding 88 grounders, exactly, we both kneeled on towels that lay parallel to one another. Washington put three baseballs in front of me: one to my forehand, one to my backhand and one up the middle.
These were meant to illustrate how far out front I should field the ball. , on Friday, May 8, 2026. On that towel, Wash put me through the gamut.
Dozens of grounders with the tiny glove to the forehand, to the backhand and up the middle. Some were thrown, others off the fungo. I fielded grounders on my knees for about 20 minutes before I got on my feet and transitioned to the “pancake” glove, a flat, padded circle with no pocket. Along the way, I made my share of mistakes — more mental than physical.
Remember how I said Washington told me not to pull my hands up? Well, guess what I instinctively wanted to do when my concentration lapsed?
“I’m not saying that’s wrong, but it’s not the way I teach,” Washington said. “You do some I don’t teach, and I keep correcting you on it. You understand what I’m saying? And you gotta determine what’s best.
I’m not going to tell you which one is the best. That’s for you to determine. I , on Friday, May 8, 2026.
Bay Area News Group San Francisco Giants beat reporter Justice delos Santos reacts after missing a ball while running drills with San Francisco Giants infield coach Ron Washington before their game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif. , on Friday, May 8, 2026.
, on Friday, May 8, 2026. Fatigue didn’t truly become a factor until Washington, 43 minutes in, had me field backhand and forehand grounders while in a deep lunge.
I started focusing more on my strength than my mechanics, and the misplays piled up.
“It’s going to kill you because you’re doing it right,” Washington said. “If you was doing it wrong, you wouldn’t feel anything. ” , on Friday, May 8, 2026.
Bay Area News Group San Francisco Giants beat reporter Justice delos Santos runs drills with San Francisco Giants infield coach Ron Washington before their game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif. , on Friday, May 8, 2026.
, on Friday, May 8, 2026. drill at his disposal. I committed 12 physical errors on approximately 365 attempts, most towards the end, but that doesn’t account for how many times Washington checked me.
Washington corrected me 51 times, but the longer the workout went, the more ingrained his teachings became. By the end, if I messed up, I’d tell him what I did wrong before he had the chance. It’s fair to say that meeting Wash’s standard was For all the critiques, he was equally willing to shower me with praise when my fundamentals were on point.
My favorite moment of the whole session was when we went to the pancake glove, which I’d never used before. Washington’s message was simple: “Force in, force out. ” Washington started off by throwing me short hops to get used to the glove, and I was perfect on the first round.
“I’ve put that glove on a lot of guys, and they never picked that up like you just did,” Washington said. Then, Washington upped the difficulty by going to the fungo. He hit me six, and I fielded them all clean. Bay Area News Group San Francisco Giants beat reporter Justice delos Santos uses an infield training glove while running drills with San Francisco Giants infield coach Ron Washington before their game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif.
, on Friday, May 8, 2026. Bay Area News Group San Francisco Giants beat reporter Justice delos Santos uses an infield training glove while running drills with San Francisco Giants infield coach Ron Washington before their game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif. , on Friday, May 8, 2026.
, on Friday, May 8, 2026.
Bay Area News Group San Francisco Giants beat reporter Justice delos Santos uses an infield training glove while running drills with San Francisco Giants infield coach Ron Washington before their game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif. , on Friday, May 8, 2026. As the workout progressed, members of the organization rolled in. That included Buster Posey, and it wasn’t lost on me that the roles were now reversed.
The Giants’ president of baseball operations was now watchingIf you’ll allow a brief interlude, I’d like to note that Sam Blum of The Athletic executed this same idea last year. When I saw Sam at the 2025 Winter Meetings, I asked for his blessing to run it back. As I walked back to the press box, I had my answer to the question of how Washington makes his infielders better.
In my opinion, the secret to Washington’s success isn’t just in the drills. Don’t get me wrong, the drills were fun, engaging and effective. By the end, I felt like I’d made strides defensively. Still, these drills aren’t an industry secret.
There are multiple versions, even if Washington’s formula is the original. So, Washington’s success wasn’t just the result of these drills. No, the answer was more obvious. San Francisco Giants infield coach Ron Washington and Bay Area News Group San Francisco Giants beat reporter Justice delos Santos chat while walking back to the dugout before their game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif.
, on Friday, May 8, 2026. Washington is a teacher at heart. His superpower isn’t his expertise but how he gets lessons to stick. Wash wasn’t going through the motions, but held his attention to detail for every single rep.
He wasn’t afraid to push me when I had mental lapses, but he also knew when to pull back when I expressed frustration. I also appreciated that Washington never talked down to me. I’m probably never going to play in another organized game in my life, but there was a genuine desire to teach. Nothing felt fake or contrived.
If he’s putting in this much effort with me, I can only imagine what he’s doing for players. And the bluntness of Washington’s criticisms made the compliments feel that much more rewarding. Praise had to be earned, and is there a better feeling as a baseball player than impressing the best infield coach this game has ever seen? My legs weren’t used to the movements that Washington had me execute.
An hour after the workout, I wasn’t walking, but waddling. There wasn’t a muscle in my lower body that didn’t scream in pain. When I showered on Saturday morning, my knees stung from the hot water. I couldn’t touch my toes until the following Wednesday, and I didn’t even bother trying to run.
It wasn’t until five full days after the workout that my legs felt normal. When I saw Washington and told him how my legs were feeling, he affirmed that this was proof I’d done the drills right.
Ron Washington Baseball Lifer Infielder Coaching Drills Aggressive Play Keeping Hands Moving Straight 96 Grounders In Four Minutes Improving Skills Luis Arraez
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